Changes in Secondary-Level Education and Social Stratification in Ireland: Effectively Maintained Inequality?

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  In Roundtable Session: Student Engagement, Coursework, and High School Trajectories

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess whether the reforms of the Irish education system from the late 1970s to the mid 2000s have managed to contribute to equality of opportunity. Since the 1970s, secondary level education has undergone two particularly significant transformations: an expansion in the proportion of pupils completing secondary level education, and a qualitative diversification of the qualifications available at the end of upper secondary education (academic, vocational). To guide the analyses, I the thesis of ‘Effectively Maintained Inequality’ which states that when a level of education becomes almost universal, class inequality is primarily expressed through qualitative differences between academically and socially stratified tracks.

Author

• Delma V. Byrne, National University of Ireland - Maynooth